Seepage creeps up on you slowly. It’s not an overnight affair; it’s one that will rear its ugly head on you gradually, only to manifest itself by shattering through the paint one fine morning when you’re late for work. The first sign of it is usually a light heap of paint rubble directly under the seepage area. As you look closer though, you’ll notice that the wall above the rubble that was once crisp and unblemished is now splitting and revealing the plaster underneath. The paint on your wall now tapers out, resembling a dead flower whose petals are ready to fall out. Not a pretty sight for anybody to wake up to, really.

More than the visual damage that seepage has on your walls, there’s really a deeper issue. It essentially means that your walls are bogged down with water that could originate from poor plastering in the apartment above yours, excess rainwater, or even the rupture of concealed plumbing pipes. Usually, seepage can be resolved quickly by plastering the root of the water leakage. But once that’s done, the gaping scars on your walls are glaring testimony to their erstwhile existence. But fear not; in fact, you’ll come to realise that covering seepage scars can actually result in excellent home décor choices!
Thick wallpapers make for great options to mask walls that are stained from seepage. While you’ll still have to sand down your wall to make the surface even before covering it, thick textured wallpapers will hide blemishes and bumps in your wall and turn your wall into a great focal feature.

If the damage to your walls isn’t too grave, perhaps you should consider hiding your seepage stains with photo frames. In this case, it is still advisable to sand down your wall before going ahead to prevent a collection of paint rubble at the foot of your wall. Once you’ve done that, lay your frames close to each other on the wall, leaving little room between them. If your seepage stains are large, pick several large frames, whose collective area is enough to cover the damaged wall patch. Position them strategically, covering bare patches of wall behind each frame. By clustering them tightly together, there is little room for the seepage to show through. And you have a masterpiece you would never have had otherwise!

Murals originated in Southern France during the Upper Paleolithic times, around 30,000 BC. But the concept of murals sprouted up independently across the world over the next several thousand centuries, with Ajanta, Ellora and Kerala mural paintings earning worldwide recognition. Murals are usually frescos painted directly on to walls. Traditionally, they would tell stories, about mythology, animals and human beings. Today, however, murals have taken on a more chic, contemporary avatar. They feature starlit skies, dense forests and spectacular skylines and are usually made to order, to fit a given wall perfectly. Unlike wallpapers, they serve as large feature images, rather than as an alternative to paint, and they’re the perfect solution for damaged walls.

Seepage is the beginning of all things beautiful. What a blessing in disguise!